The Enterprise Forum
by Frakme
Summary: Hoshi and Travis set up an anonymous bulletin board on the Enterprise. Rated for some sexual situations in later chapters and probably bad language as well.
1. Chapter 1

I cannot take all of the credit for this idea myself, although as an avid forum user myself, it is kind of a natural for me. However the idea of a shipboard one I first came across in Diane Duane's "Spock's World" which is an absolutely fab, fab, fab book - most definitely one of my favourite Star Trek books.

They'll be sexual situations in the later chapters, hence the rating but I won't be doing anything explicit. Set in season 1, so it will have season 1 spoilers. This chapter is set just after "Fight or Flight." There will be more chapters but they may take some time to come out as I will be re-watching a season 1 in the new year to include some crew threads about various things that happen in the episodes!

Captain Archer was sat in his quarters, looking over some reports when he heard the door chime.

"Come in" he said, hitting the door open control.

"Hello, Captain" said Ensign Sato, nervously. "Could I have a moment of your time, I wanted to make a request."  
"Certainly, Hoshi, have a seat." He smiled at her, trying to put her at her ease, while hoping this wasn't going to be another 'Stop the ship I want to get off!' request.

"Thanks Captain." She took the proffered seat and composed herself.

"I've been thinking about this mission and how it could be a very long one" she began. "The designers of the ship have made provisions for shipboard entertainment but with our hasty departure, not all of the recommendations for off duty activities have been made available. So we are making do with what we've got." She stopped and looked at the Captain anxiously.

"I had an idea that we could implement with our ship's systems, though we'd need to use a small part of the ship's memory core for it. I know Starfleet included a great deal of computer storage, anticipating all the data we would collect during our missions."

"Yes, I am aware of that, Hoshi" the captain replied, a slight tone of impatience creeping into his voice. "So what exactly is this idea of yours and how much storage are you talking about?"

"A bulletin board, sir. An anonymous one."

Archer considered the idea thoughtfully. He'd used bulletin boards himself, in Starfleet, at University and quite a few amateur ones as well so he was familiar with them, though he hadn't really used them in a few years now.

"That isn't a bad suggestion, Hoshi" he said. The ensign relaxed slightly, she hadn't been sure whether the Captain would go for it.

"However, there will have to be some ground rules" he said, sternly. "As much as I believe in the rights of crew to express criticism, I won't allow personal attacks on individuals. Nor will I tolerate any racist, homophobic or similar language."

"Absolutely sir" Hoshi agreed. "I would suggest we have some moderators to watch for anything like that. And anyone who joins will have to agree to the terms of use. Although users will be able to pick an anonymous user name, it'll be linked to their ID, so we can identify anyone who does break the rules. I don't think anyone would though."

"Okay. Talk to T'Pol about releasing some of the memory storage. She could probably help set the board up for you."

"Thank you Captain. I'm going to ask Ensign Mayweather to assist me setting up the board, he used to run the one he had on his family's ship."

"Great, Hoshi. If that is all..?" he said. Hoshi got up.

"Thanks again, Captain." She smiled at him again and left.

Archer relaxed back in his seat, feeling content. He had a few worries about Hoshi and how she was settling in for this mission but she was finally managing to adapt. A project like this would prove to be an excellent distraction for her. And it was a very good idea as well.

Now, he thought to himself, I'd better start thinking up a user name!


	2. Chapter 2

A big wave to any Mumsnetters out there, this chapter is for you.

"It's all ready to go Hoshi" said Travis. Hoshi smiled.

"Thanks I appreciate this." She looked at the screen over Travis' shoulder. "Did you put in all the section topics I requested?"  
"I did" he confirmed, "and I even added a couple of extras 'Suggest a new topic' and 'Bug Reports'"

"Oh that is good thinking. I think we covered most popular items but there's bound to be someone coming up with some really obscure sport or music group or something they want to discuss."

Hoshi looked down the screen at the lists of topics. There were various sections, Food, Music, Movies, Politics, Health, Pets (that had been requested by the captain), Social Events, General Chat and something called 'Am I Being Unreasonable?'

"I don't remember that last one?" said Hoshi, puzzled.

"Ahh" said Travis. "That's a special one. Suppose you have a quandary where you think either you or someone else is in the wrong and you want to open it up to views from a wider audience. You'd start a thread in there. It could get very heated so we'll need to keep a close eye on it." Travis chuckled to himself.

"Mom started one entitled 'Am I being unreasonable to expect that at the end of the duty shifts, the crew leaving could clear away their dirty coffee cups?' That one turned into a major flame war!"

"Sounds like it could be interesting - 'Am I being unreasonable to think that the captain could make a bit more of an effort to clean up after his dog?'" Hoshi glared at Travis's snickering. "Porthos dropped one right outside my quarters yesterday!I know the captain cleaned it up but the smell lingered!"

"I suggest you don't start that one, Hoshi!"

"Probably not a good idea" she grinned ruefully. "I'll send out a general comm to let people know they can register and to think carefully about their usernames. If they change their mind they'll have to get a Mod to change it."

"Who are going to be the Mods?" asked Travis.

"You, me and T'Pol so far." Hoshi sighed at Travis's eye rolling. "The captain insisted, he thought she would be impartial plus he thought it would give her a bit of insight into human cultures. She didn't look particularly thrilled at the idea though."

"Well if that's all, I'm going to head back to my bunk." Travis yawned and stretched. "Got a busy day tomorrow!"

The two ensigns left the computer lab and headed off to their quarters, feeling rather pleased with themselves.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Hoshi" Travis greeted his friend as she came into the mess in search of breakfast. She picked up a bowl of granola, fruit and yogurt, and a cup of green tea and joined the helmsman who was tucking into a plate of bacon and eggs.

"I've just checked the board stats, over half the crew has joined already!" beamed the communications officer.

"In less than a day?" remarked Travis, "That's great work!"

Hoshi leaned towards him though.

"I think I may have to have a quiet word with Commander Tucker about his username though" she said, softly, not wanting to be overheard. "I think 'Ilovesmywarpengine' is probably a bit of a give away."  
Travis snorted in amusement.

"With the greatest of respect to Commander Tucker, who is clearly a certified genius, he can be a bit dense at times."

"I can't disagree with you there, Travis."

The two friends finished their breakfast and headed to the bridge. Already there had been a few threads started up, a couple on the recent movies shown during Movie night, some discussions on recent news stories from home and a light hearted thread entitled "What would you add to the NX-01 if you were designing her?" The top responses appeared to be a swimming pool, an old fashioned amusement arcade and bizarrely a crazy golf course. She did see one response which she thought may have outed the poster - 'A much bigger phase cannon.' But it was shortly followed by 'At least three phase cannons'. It seems that it wasn't just Lieutenant Reed who was weapons obsessed!

The most entertaining thread though had been on the so-called sweet spot, a spot on the Enterprise where overlapping power fields overrode the artificial gravity system. It was amazing how quickly the suggestions of what to do in zero gravity became rather titillating.

One particular user had boasted of having sex with two other partners (gender not specified) in zero g. Unfortunately for Hoshi, Subcommander T'Pol had seen that thread before her and edited most of the comment out, stating it was highly inappropriate.

Perhaps, the subcommander could be persuaded that her services were no longer required, or to seek advice from Travis and Hoshi first!

**A/N Thanks for all the reviews so far :)**


	4. Chapter 4

"Morning, Hoshi" said Travis, "How are you doing?"

"Tired!" she groaned, her head falling onto the table. She held out her arm. "I need intravenous coffee, stat!"

"Were you up late?"

Hoshi sat up and nodded.

"It's been over a week since we set up the forum and I'm now regretting it." She rubbed at her eyes and took a big gulp of her three shot cappuccino.

"What happened? Sorry, I didn't get a chance to go on last night. I was tired out from that crazy ass planet we were on. That was one weird trip!"

"I'm glad everyone got back okay, although poor Ethan looked awful!" replied Hoshi.

"Yeah, I know" said Travis, gloomily. "I think the Captain is really going to struggle to get anyone through the transporter again!"

Hoshi shivered when she thought about it. Ethan Novakovich was going to be okay but it had been touch and go for a while.

"Well that was part of what kept me up last night, Travis." Hoshi said. "As you can a imagine there was a couple of threads about what happened on the planet. It got kind of heated at times, I had to remove a few rather unpleasant comments. I'm glad Subcommander T'Pol was not checking the forum last night!"

"Was there comments about her on there?" replied Travis, sounding concerned. "She was affected by the pollen as well, not as badly as the rest of us, though. I have to say, I'm feeling a little less charitable about the subcommander, my shoulder still hurts from that thing she did to knock me out!"

"Oh yes" said Hoshi, gloomily. "I had to delete a few stating that they'd wished Commander Tucker had shot her!"

"Jeez Hoshi, if she or the Captain get wind of that…" The two of them looked grim.

"That's why I ended up going to bed so late, I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. In the end I had to delete the threads. It wasn't all bad, though. There were quite a few people defending her, although…" She trailed off and sighed.

"What, Hoshi?"

"There were some who were saying maybe she was right and we shouldn't be out here at all."

"Oh." Travis looked pensive.

"You can hardly blame them; we're barely out of space dock when we're getting shot at, we find an abandoned freighter and I am still have nightmares about those hanging bodies. And then we come across what we think is a beautiful, pristine world and two of our senior officers nearly end up killing each other!"

"It won't all be bad, Hoshi" said Travis with his usual optimism. "We've just been unlucky. I'm sure it will all work out in the end. We did see that amazing nebula on the way here."

"That's true" admitted Hoshi. "And those aliens we swapped medical supplies with, the H'Gath? They were really friendly and their language was amazing, such beautiful music! Imagine, singing your way through life!"

Travis snorted.

"I can imagine a few people who'd I rather not hear singing!"

"Actually, that reminds me, there was a thread asking if anyone wanted to start a singing group" replied Hoshi. "They've asked anyone who wants to join in to meet in Cargo Bay 3 at 1800 hours tomorrow night."

"Why Cargo bay 3?"

"Something to do with the acoustics, I guess. I'm thinking of trying out. Anyway, we'd better get move on if we don't want to be late for bridge duty!" Hoshi finished her coffee, with a mental reminded to get another one in during her break.

The two friends headed off. They certainly had a lot to think about.


	5. Chapter 5

**A quicker update than usual but don't get used to it ;) I had the last chapter ready a few days ago but wasn't able to post it until yesterday evening! I've just watched Unexpected and that will definitely get a discussion in Chapter 6. Meanwhile, T'Pol wants to have her say! And it is also my longest chapter of this story yet!**

"Ensign Sato, may I speak with you?"

Hoshi looked up from her dessert to see T'Pol standing next to her.

"Of course, Subcommander" she said, standing quickly. "Would you like to join me?"

T'Pol nodded once and sat gracefully down, her back straight. Sato sat down in her own seat and unconsciously straightened her own posture.

"How may I help you, Ma'am?" she said.

"It is concerning the forum" T'Pol began. "As you know, I questioned the need for such a… diversion on the ship. However, the captain thought it would be a good idea for there to be somewhere the crew could 'let off steam' as he put it." Sato noticed a barely perceptible frown mar the Vulcan's classically beautiful features.

"I had not devoted as much time as perhaps you envisaged to the moderation process-" at this Hoshi had to suppress a snort, she'd prefer the subcommander to spend less time moderating.

"However my duties have lightened sufficiently in the past day that I have been able to examine many of the subjects on the forum."

"Okay, Subcommander" said Hoshi, wondering where T'Pol was going with this.

"I find many of the.. threads, I believe that is the correct terminology?" At Hoshi's nod she continued "Are frivolous at best and verging on insubordination at worst. Although, there has been some educational topics; there was a very informative discussion on Human veganism and vegetarianism. I am intending to speak to Chef about including some of the foods discussed on the menu, to attempt to acclimatise the crew to a less… carnivorous diet." Sato could hear the distaste in the Vulcan's voice, she'd apparently made no secret of the disgust she experienced, witnessing crew members eating meat. Hoshi couldn't see the Captain giving up his steak though, nor the chief engineer his beloved pan fried catfish.

"You said some of the threads verged on subordinate, subcommander?" said, Hoshi, trying to placate the Vulcan woman. She was a little concerned that T'Pol may try to pull the plug. Things had settled down in the last week since they left the psychotropic pollen planet but there had still been some slightly mutinous grumblings about the transporter. Travis had spoken to the captain and aired the crew's concerns and the captain had made available some of the latest research on the safety of the transporter. Privately, though, she didn't think some crew would be satisfied until the captain used it successfully… or better still, Porthos.

"There was a discussion with regards to the required exercise regime, much of it complaints about the minimum requirement to maintain recommended Starfleet fitness levels. A number of complaints about the food in the mess hall. Discussions on when shore leave would be permitted" At the last, T'Pol raised an eyebrow. "This ship only set out from Earth seven weeks ago. If shore leave was permitted at the frequency some crew members suggested, I would be very doubtful of how much real exploration would be achieved."

Sato nearly laughed.

"How often do Vulcans do shore leave?" she asked, curiously.

"Shore leave is illogical and a waste of time. We do not require it; there is adequate recreation available on Vulcan ships. We allow for regular returns to Vulcan, naturally, for it reasonable to expect that the crew wish to see their families. Our ships are normally out for at least a year, normally two."

Wow, thought Hoshi. Once again she was struck by the difference between Vulcans and Humans.

"I honestly don't see anything troubling about the threads you described" replied Hoshi. "Humans like to have something complain about. Believe me, if exercise was voluntary, everyone had their favourite foods always available and we had shore leave every weekend, the crew would find_ something_ to complain about, be it the colour of the carpets or the stars going the wrong way."  
Both of T'Pol's eyebrows climbed at this point. Hoshi flushed slightly as she remembered her request to change quarters. At the time it seemed perfectly reasonable but looking back she felt a bit stupid. Still, at least no one was really put out by it.

"It supports my opinion that humans are an illogical, antagonistic species." declared T'Pol.

Hoshi sighed. She did feel a little sympathy for T'Pol; it must be hard for her to adjust to living amongst people whose worldview was so different from her own. At the same time, she thought T'Pol was determined to find evidence to support her initial assessment of the crew without attempting to look for any redeeming qualities they may have that would alter her view.

"Subcommander, essentially it's harmless, this complaining. It won't really come to anything. Ultimately, it is just words on a screen. Obviously we ensure nothing crosses over to personal insults but it's a way for the crew to let off some excess energy in a fairly harmless way."

"Perhaps I should suggest the crew take up more exercise to disperse this 'excess energy'" T'Pol replied, archly.

"You do that" Hoshi retorted, "You _will_ have a mutiny on your hands!" At this point, T'Pol decided to file the whole concept under 'Things she did not understand about Humans.'

"I won't take up any more of your time, Ensign" she said, rising to her feet. "Your insights have been most enlightening. I shall attempt to be more pragmatic in my analysis of these topics. Good night."  
"Good night" echoed Hoshi. She watched the Vulcan woman walk away, then got up to head to her quarters. She intended to voice her own complaints about the food, specifically the miserly portion of devil's food cake she had picked up earlier!


	6. Chapter 6

**Should warn you, T'Pol is going to get her arse kicked in this one. I think she deserved it for implying on fairly short acquaintance that Trip is the biggest man slut going. She needed to wait until at least season 2 before coming to that conclusion ;) Archer has a well deserved guilt trip as well. And T'Pol does at least get the last word!**

Captain Archer stalked on to the bridge, looking extremely unhappy. He glanced pointedly at T'Pol then glared at Mayweather and Sato.

"Subcommander, Ensigns, in my ready room, now!" He stalked into the room without waiting to see if they were following.

Hoshi and Travis exchanged looks before following the Vulcan into the ready room.

As soon as the door shut the three of them stood to attention, eyes forward. The captain was stood at the other side of his desk, his eyes blazing with fury.

"I have just come from Commander Tucker's cabin" he said, enunciating each word as well as he could, through gritted teeth. "To say he is upset, is an understatement. I want to know how, less than a day after we reveal the truth to the Klingon captain and the bridge crew, there was a thread on the forum entitled 'Commander Tucker's pregnant!'"

He didn't mention that he had found the Commander in tears, fueled partly by the humiliation he had suffered over the past few weeks but mainly by the severe hormonal changes he had undergone when the foetus had been removed. Phlox assured the captain that Tucker would return to his normal self with a day or so, which was good as Archer had spent two hours convincing his chief engineer into not resigning his commission.

Hoshi blanched, Travis looked down at the floor. T'Pol appeared to be her normal imperturbable self, but on closer inspection appeared to have developed a slight muscular tic below her left eye.

"It is inevitable, Captain" began T'Pol levelly, "That in a ship of this size, it is difficult to keep a secret. If you recall at breakfast yesterday morning, Commander Tucker did speak of his pregnancy in front of one of the stewards. It may have been assumed that he no longer wanted to keep it concealed."

"I can assure you, Subcommander, that was not the case and I spoke to the crewman in question" snapped Archer. "And in matters of security and medical confidentiality, I expect discretion from my crew!"

"Captain" ventured Hoshi, "We can get the thread pulled and we could find out who started it-"

"Good, I expect you to do that, Ensign" Archer interrupted, then saw she was still trying to speak. "Do you have anything else to add?"  
"I guess I should have thought that this sort of thing could happen and I am really sorry it has. I will apologise personally to Commander Tucker, if you think it will help?"

Archer responded with a sharp nod and Travis add a soft "Me too, sir."

"Do you want us to pull the forum, Captain?" said Travis, trying to sound neutral.

Archer didn't answer straight away. He had, after a moments pause, elected not to join, not wanting to censor his crew's words by his mere presence on the board; he had made it clear he would not be using it. Now he wondered if he should have.

"Consider it suspended for the next twenty four hours, Ensigns." said Archer finally. "I strongly suggest you find some more trustworthy crewmembers to moderate the boards as I do not want a repeat of this incident." He sighed heavily and sat down, his anger starting to fade as he began to feel he had more of a handle on the situation.

"Incidentally" he said in a softer tone. "I read the entire thread. The Commander only read the first couple of posts. There was actually an awful lot of sympathy for the Commander on there. That is the only reason I'm only suspending the forum, not removing it entirely."

Hoshi and Travis were not entirely surprise. The chief engineer was a popular person on the ship, with his gregarious manner and contagious optimism.

"You are both dismissed, Ensigns." Archer looked at T'Pol. "Subcommander, stay. I haven't finished with you yet."

Both Mayweather and Sato left as quickly as they could without losing decorum. When the door shut, Archer pointed at the other chair.

"Sit down, Subcommander" he said, when she hesitated. He then accessed the forum and selected the thread, turning the screen so T'Pol could see it.

"Reading some of those posts made me think." He gestured to the first couple of posts.

**_'I was wondering why the chief engineer was tooling around in his civvies, turned out he'd been doing more than fixing the engines on the alien ship, the dirty bastard!'_**

**_'That's gotta be a first… although it doesn't surprise me that it was Commander Tucker who managed to get himself knocked up. He is an outrageous flirt!'_**

T'Pol read the posts and a few more, that were decidedly less pleasant. She looked up at the Captain.

"I can imagine that those would be a source of distress to the Commander" she said quietly.

"Somehow, I have trouble believing that" replied Archer, coldly. "You seem to be determined to think the worst of us lowly humans. You very quickly assumed that Trip had behaved inappropriately on the Xyrillian vessel. You have been on this ship two months now, if that is what you think of Commander Tucker and perhaps the rest of us, then I wonder why you are still here."

As she looked at Archer she realised the truth of his words. She had been guilty of coming too quickly to a false conclusion. As a child, her mother had often cautioned her daughter against a certain impulsiveness not often seen in Vulcans.

"I shall endeavour to be more… open minded when evaluating the crew reactions to unusual situations" said T'Pol softly. "However, I have an observation to make."

"Go on" said Archer, warily.

"Perhaps you should consider your own reactions to the news. More particularly, how you would have reacted to the entire event if it had been Crewman Cutler or Ensign Sato who has been impregnated."

Archer looked at her in astonishment. For once, he didn't have a come back.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again for all the reviews! Feeling the love!**

**Trekkie4eva - I heard him saying it my head ;)**

"So who have we got then?" asked Travis, pointing at the PADD in Hoshi's hand.

"Liz Cutler, Ethan Novakovich, Jane Taylor, Nathan Walsh and Jen Thomas." Hoshi read off the names on the list. "The captain insisted on at least 2 people from each shift."

"Dunno about Nathan" said Travis. "He's a bit of a flake. I'd say Miriam Dettwyler is a better choice."

"You're probably right, Travis" sighed Hoshi. "Nathan has been nagging me about getting more involved though, apparently he was president of the computer society in 2151 at the academy."

Travis rolled his eyes.

"For two months!" protested Travis. "He got removed in the end… something about bringing the society into disrepute!"

"Do tell!" said Hoshi

"I don't know anything… except it involved a fellow cadet, computer lab G42 and a tub of taramasalata."

Hoshi nearly spat out the coffee she was drinking. Travis grinned and passed her a napkin.

"Okay" said Hoshi, all business, "I'll message all of these people and ask them to be moderators. Hopefully they'll agree."

"Great!" said Travis. "I think we've all learned an important lesson from the debacle on Tuesday. Lots of people said they missed the forum during the suspension period and things have definitely been more sedate."

"Let's keep it that way." said Hoshi.

Travis moved in closer to Hoshi.

"Is Commander Tucker speaking to you again?" Travis said, in hushed tones.

"He wished me a 'good morning' in the mess this morning" replied Hoshi, equally softly.

"I haven't seen him since we apologised to him." Travis frowned, looking a little worried.

"I don't think the Commander is the type to hold a grudge" said Hoshi, soothingly. "Just be polite and professional."

Travis nodded.

"We'd better get back, lunch is almost finished." The two ensigns got up and left for the bridge.

Hoshi looked up from her morning coffee to see Travis bounding towards her like Porthos towards a cheese mountain.

"It's too early for that level of enthusiasm" said Hoshi, as Travis opened his mouth to speak.

"Drink more coffee then," said Travis unrepentantly. "Weregoingtoterranova!"

"Could you say that in English please? I don't speak gibberish before 10am."

"We. Are. Going. To. Terra. Nova." Travis was practically skipping on the spot.

"The lost colony?" Hoshi perked up a little at that.

Travis then proceeded to do an impression of those little nodding dogs she'd seen in a museum once.

"Gotta go!" Travis said, stealing the last mini Danish off Hoshi's plate. "I want to put a few links up about it on the forum."

"Just don't go mad will you!" she sighed, watching Travis rushing out the door.

Hoshi was on her way to the bridge when she got waylaid by Ensign Dettwyler.

"Do you have a minute, Hoshi?" Miriam asked.

"Sure, what is it Miri?"

"There's been a few threads discussing the Novans, as you know" Miriam began.

Hoshi rolled her eyes. There had been more than a few, conspiracy theories, links to seventy year old news reports and pictures from the archives.

"It's about the thread that Travis started entitled 'Do you have relatives on Terra Nova?' Apparently eight people claim that they may have relations in the are now discussing how to approach Captain Archer about making contact with their long lost relatives."

"Eight people?" said Hoshi, sceptically. "That's a lot of coincidences!"

Miriam nodded.

"I'm inclined to agree."

Hoshi frowned.

"As far as I'm aware the Novans don't wish any contact with Earth" she said. "Even after we helped relocate them. I could speak to the captain but those crewmembers will have to provide clear evidence of their relationships to the original colonists before I can do that. Leave it with me, Miri."

"Thanks, Hoshi" Miriam walked off, tossing a wave to Hoshi as she headed off in the other direction.

As it turned out only two crewmembers were related to the original Novans. One of them was the great niece of one of the original colonists but the other was even more distantly related, her grandfather had a 3rd cousin who also joined the original colony. As far as they knew, neither of the colonists had any surviving relatives.

Hoshi, in some ways was relieved to discover this information before she spoke to the captain. From what Malcolm had told her, they weren't the friendliest bunch. Then again, to be fair, one of them had shot him in the leg. And if that wasn't bad enough they refused to let him use the facilities. Hoshi's mouth twitched in amusement as she remember Malcolm's indignation when he relayed the tale to her. Typical Malcolm, more worried about his dignity than the fact he might be bleeding to death. At least she had managed to persuade him to come along to the singing group with her.

She heard a rumour that he had been in a boys' choir and when they all turned up in cargo bay three to try out, there were more than a few open mouths when he launched into 'Fair Moon to Thee I Sing' from "HMS Pinafore" in a pitch perfect baritone. In fact, a couple of people discreetly slunk out in the face of such awesome talent. However, he baulked when Rostov, who had been elected the leader of the group, suggested putting together a performance of 'HMS Pinafore' for the captain.

"I'm happy to sing here in the group" he explained. "Perhaps give some of you a few tips, if you feel you need it. But I can assure you there is no bloody way I am performing for an audience. I'd rather be strapped to a torpedo, thank you very much."

There was much disappointment at this pronouncement. After he left the room, there was a discussion about whether it would be possible to persuade their star talent to go public.

"Perhaps we could ask him to perform incognito?" suggested Crewman Sarda.

"I don't think that wouldn't work" said Hoshi. "Although next week, could we sneak in a recording device?"

"Oh no!" said Crewman Kelly, one of Reed's subordinates. "He'd find it and kill us all!"

Sadly they resigned themselves that only they would be able to hear and appreciate Malcolm Reed's singing talents.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the wait, have only just recently been able to watch "The Andorian Incident" I did love the scene in the launch bay with T'Pol, Archer and Tucker - I was half expecting her to check to see if they'd washed behind their ears! I hope you don't think Trip was being too hard on T'Pol, but he did watch his best friend getting beaten up rather badly!**

"Ensign Sato, may I speak with you?" T'Pol had approached Hoshi on the way to the mess hall.

"Of course, Subcommander" Hoshi replied, politely. She had half expected this, the ship having departed the sanctuary of P'Jem the previous day. The scuttlebutt about what the Enterprise crew had found had gotten around the ship pretty quickly and naturally there was a thread on the forum about it.

The two women entered the mess and took a seat in the corner, not far away from where Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed were eating their lunch and having an intense conversation.

The two women sat, T'Pol with her back to the two men, Hoshi, next to her.

"What can I help you with, Ma'am?" asked Hoshi, ignoring the two men who, having spotted the Vulcan woman, were clearly trying to eavesdrop.

"There has been some discussion on the forum with regards to the incident at P'Jem" she stated. "I wish to know if you intend to remove the thread. For obvious reasons, I have not."

Hoshi frowned, feeling uneasy. She knew exactly what T'Pol meant, Heaven forbid that she be accused of abusing her position. However…

"I've read the thread and so have two of the other moderators" Hoshi said. There isn't anything on there that violates the guidelines. There were a couple of comments that were deleted for being abusive but the rest of it was pretty factual."

Most of the commenters on the thread had been smart enough to make their displeasure known about the Vulcans' actions on P'Jem without being insulting. Mainly the thread was concerned about the repercussions of escalated conflict between Vulcan and Andoria, the crew were concerned about how it would impact on their mission and Earth.

"I see" said T'Pol, neutrally. "So you believe that the thread should stand?" At this point Commander Tucker stood up and came over to their table.

"Not afraid of a few home truths are you, Subcommander?" Tucker said, not troubling to hide the hostility he felt.

Hoshi noticed that Tucker was still sporting a nasty bruise on his face from an altercation down on the planet. She remembered that the captain had been even worse off and shivered slightly.

"Not at all, Commander" replied T'Pol, meeting Tucker's gaze unflinchingly. Surprisingly, the chief engineer was the first to look away. She turned back to Hoshi.

"I find myself in agreements with some of the sentiments of the crew" she continued, much to the surprise of Sato, Tucker and Reed, who was now listening into the conversation.

"Do you think it could lead to war?" said Hoshi, anxiously.

"I do not believe so" said T'Pol. "The Andorians are an aggressive, militaristic species, but they know the ultimate futility in launching a full scale attack on my people, who are technologically superior. However there is scope for increasing hostilities leading to armed skirmishes. It is now in the hands of the diplomats."

"So you are happy for the thread to stand then?" said Hoshi, trying to get back to the original conversation.

"I believe that is what I said, Ensign" replied T'Pol. "Events of yesterday have sparked a healthy debate. I found the discussions on similar incidents in Earth history enlightening."

"Pot calling the kettle black?" said Tucker, bristling slightly. "If you are referring to incidents in the twentieth century, that was a long time past. Leastways, we've learned from such events."

"Good to see you paid some attention in history class, Commander" said Reed, quietly. Tucker shot him a dirty look.

"Perhaps time will tell, Commander" said T'Pol coolly. "Thank you for your time, Ensign Sato. If you will excuse me?"

T'Pol got up and left, nodding to Tucker and Reed.

Tucker glared at her back.

"I think you are being a bit harsh, Commander" said Reed, also watching the Vulcan leave, thought Hoshi noticed, with amusement, that Reed's gaze seemed to converge on a much lower point. Tucker looked at Reed incredulously.

"Malcolm, you saw the state the cap'n was in when we got back!" he said. "It's about time Miss High and Mighty Vulcan got taken down a peg or two!"

"My impression is that she was highly embarrassed about the whole incident" said Reed, sharply. "And with respect, sir, I don't think we should continue this discussion in such a public space."

Tucker scowled and then sighed.

"I guess, you're right, Malcolm" he said. Tucker's mercurial nature never let him stay angry for too long. "I gotta go now, see you around, Hoshi, Malcolm." He wandered off as well.

"I came in here for lunch, I'd better get some" sighed Hoshi. "Have you eaten, Lieutenant? would you care to keep me company?"

"I have already" replied Malcolm. "I need to get back to the armoury. Enjoy your lunch, Ensign."  
Hoshi watched Malcolm leave with a mild sense of disappointment. She left her seat and picked up a plate of chicken salad and sat down again.

She cheered up a little when Travis joined her a short while later.

"Hey, Hoshi" he said cheerily as he sat down with a BLT.

"Hi, Travis" said Hoshi. "I've just spoken to T'Pol." She relayed the gist of the conversation to Travis.

"I guess she surprised you all" he said, grinning. "And for what it's worth, I think she's right about the prospect of war."

"Have you met any Andorians?" asked Hoshi, curiously.

"No but I've heard stuff about them" he said. "They may be a bit smaller than Humans but they are physically stronger. One of Dad's friends got into a fight with an Andorian freighter captain, who was about half his size. Dad's friend ended up in traction!"

"I guess you know what they say" reflected Hoshi. "Big surprises come in small packages!"

"I'd say that definitely applies to a lot of things around here" smiled Travis. "There is one thing that bothers me about the whole incident."

"What's that?" asked Hoshi.

"How Lieutenant Reed managed to refrain from telling the captain and T'Pol 'I told you so'!"

Hoshi snickered.

"Actually he kind of did" Hoshi said. "Earlier today he handed the captain a list of recommendations for landing party protocols. He did it in a very pointed fashion."

The two of them laughed but before long they sobered up.

"He does have a point, you know" said Travis. "It could have gotten a lot worse down there."

"True" said Hoshi. "I guess none of us truly appreciate how dangerous it is out here until things like this happen."

"You don't still think about going home do you?" replied Travis, concerned.

Hoshi shook her head.

"No" she said, with conviction. "I do miss my student but the opportunities here are unparalleled. Subcommander T'Pol has offered to help me improve my Vulcan and teach me a few of the lesser dialects. I'm also going to ask Dr Phlox if he could teach me his language as well. And I've been asked by Ensign Jameson to teach him Spanish."

Travis grinned.

"You do know it's because he's sweet on Ensign Cortez?"

"So what if he is? I enjoy teaching!"

Travis smiled at his friend. He's been worried about her for a while about how she was adapting to life in space but it seemed she was a lot tougher than he thought. The two of them finished their lunch and left the mess hall.


End file.
